Teaching Political Sociology


Book Description

Drawing on the diverse experience of a team of internationally recognised specialists, Teaching Political Sociology provides educators with a concise and accessible guide to the main topic areas likely to form part of term, semester, or year-long courses in political sociology. The book focuses on the key pedagogic challenges posed to teachers of political sociology, from general issues of value-freedom and engagement with students' political commitments, to more specific issues which arise in relation to sensitive areas such as political violence and extremist ideologies of the far right. Chapters introduce readers to the state of the art in a wide range of topics, including race and postcoloniality, postcommunism, legal sociology, human rights, and the sociology of war and peace. Highlighting the challenges and opportunities presented by these topics for political sociology teaching and curricula, the book provides an invaluable starting point for educators. Diverse in scope and approach, and offering an evaluation of appropriate literature at various levels, this book will prove an essential resource for teachers of political sociology and related fields such as international relations.




A Political Sociology of Educational Reform


Book Description

The author investigates the discourse of contemporary educational reform using a thematic perspective (rather than a chronological one) of 19th- and 20th-century history. The book begins with an examination of the central conceptual and historical issues in the study of educational change.







Teaching Political Sociology


Book Description

Drawing on the diverse experience of a team of internationally recognised specialists, Teaching Political Sociology provides educators with a concise and accessible guide to the main topic areas likely to form part of term, semester, or year-long courses in political sociology.




A Political Sociology of Educational Knowledge


Book Description

Bringing together the sociology of knowledge, cultural studies, and post-foundational and historical approaches, this book asks what schooling does, and what are its limits and dangers. The focus is on how the systems of reason that govern schooling embody historically generated rules and standards about what is talked about, thought, and acted on; about the "nature" of children; about the practices and paradoxes of educational reform. These systems of reason are examined to consider issues of power, the political, and social exclusion. The transnational perspectives interrelate historical and ethnographic studies of the modern school to explore how curriculum is translated through social and cognitive psychologies that make up the subjects of schooling, and how educational sciences "act" to order and divide what is deemed possible to think and do. The central argument is that taken-for-granted notions of educational change and research paradoxically produce differences that simultaneously include and exclude.




Power, Politics, and Society


Book Description

Power, Politics & Society: An Introduction to Political Sociology discusses how sociologists have organized the study of politics into conceptual frameworks, and how each of these frameworks foster a sociological perspective on power and politics in society. This includes discussing how these frameworks can be applied to understanding current issues and other "real life" aspects of politics. The authors connect with students by engaging them in activities where they complete their own applications of theory, hypothesis testing, and forms of inquiry.




Power, State, and Society


Book Description




Teaching Sociology Successfully


Book Description

Teaching Sociology Successfully is a comprehensive guide to teaching, learning and delivering sociology, not only with success but with confidence. Carefully combing insightful anecdotes and practical ideas with key theoretical concepts on planning, learning styles and assessment, this book is an essential tool for both new and experienced teachers of sociology. Each chapter focuses on a particular aspect of the teaching and learning process – from preparing to teach the subject for the first time to measuring student progress over time – in an approachable yet rigorous way. This practical guide will help you to: improve your knowledge of specifications and syllabuses at GCSE and AS/A Level; provide the best pedagogic approaches for teaching sociology; think about learning styles, skills and capacities in relation to teaching sociology; gain practical ideas and activities for improving student’s argumentation, evaluation and essay writing skills; apply strategies for teaching abstract sociological theories and concepts; make the teaching of research methods engaging and interesting; deal with practical issues such as planning and assessing learning; encourage students’ independent learning and revision; connect ICT, social networking websites and the mass media to further students’ sociological knowledge; tackle the thorny issues of politics and controversial topics. Drawing on the author’s own experiences, Teaching Sociology Successfully helps readers to identify, unpack and negotiate challenges common to those teaching sociology. Complete with a variety of pedagogical resources, it provides tasks and further reading to support CPD and reflective practice. This book will be an invaluable tool for students on PGCE social science training courses, as well as School Direct candidates and undergraduates studying BEds in similar fields.




Sociology and School Knowledge


Book Description

The rise of a radical ‘new’ sociology of education during the early 1970s focused attention on the nature of school knowledge. Although this new approach was set to revolutionize the subject, within a few years, many people considered these developments an eccentric interlude, with little relevance to curriculum theory or practice. First published in 1985, this book offers a more positive view of the new sociology of education and its contribution to our understanding of the curriculum. In doing so, it argues that some of the radical promise of the new sociology of education could be realised, but only if sociologists, teachers and political movements of the left work more closely together.




Political Sociology of Adult Education


Book Description

Critical Theorist Carlos Alberto Torres offers a political sociology of adult learning and education, based on Critical Social Theory and the always inspiring work of Paulo Freire. Empirically grounded and theoretically sophisticated, this new book follows the footsteps of his classic book published in the early nineties The Politics of Nonformal Education in Latin America. Torres book offers comparative and international sociological analyses of adult learning and education, an area in which there is an obsession with ‘practice’ and an aversion to theory, with some notable and laudable exceptions, but which has the potential to provide avenues for social justice education in ways that no other systems and policies can. This book revitalizes social theory in education, and provides ample evidence of the power of adult learning and education, examining a variety of policy documents connected with the various adult education congresses promoted by the UNESCO, which are thoroughly scrutinized for what they bring to or omit from the policy agenda. In the context of new developments in adult learning and education, particularly the impact of multiple globalizations, neoliberalism, and the new role of international organizations in reconceptualizing lifelong learning, new evidence-based research, new narratives, and the vibrancy of social movements striving for a new and possible world, it is clear that new theoretical designs were needed making this is a must-read book.